At the start of the route, Aron left his car and rode his bicycle to Blue John Canyon. Once there, the climber checked his equipment and food supply once more. Everything was fine: water, two Mexican tortillas and a few chocolate bars were quite enough to last until evening. Ralston did not intend to spend the night in the canyon, freezing from the cold. After his usual outing he planned to return home.
The heat was unbearable, and Aron hurried to take cover in the pleasant coolness of the canyon. He climbed down and rested a little in the quiet. Then Aron stood on a ledge and glanced at a huge boulder wedged between the walls of the gorge. Alas, the only way forward was to climb over it. Ralston grabbed the giant boulder and hung from it for a few seconds. But suddenly the climber unexpectedly felt the rock beginning to slip slowly downward. A moment later, a chunk of the boulder, hard as granite, came crashing down on Aron.
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Aron just managed to pull his left hand away, but his right one was pinned between the boulder and the wall of the gorge. From the unbearable pain he lost consciousness for a while. When he came to, the climber realized that he was in a deadly trap. His mangled hand was pinned by the immovable boulder. For a moment Aron fell into a panic – no one knew where he was, which meant there was nowhere to expect help from.
Having calmed down and pulled himself together, Ralston began to consider his dire situation. First, he decided to conserve the water in his bottle. The daytime sun reaches the depths of the canyon with its scorching breath, causing unbearable thirst. But Aron only wetted his lips and took small sips.
On the first day of his confinement in the stone trap, Aron managed with difficulty to fashion a hammock out of climbing carabiners. This helped give his tired legs some rest. The night passed almost without sleep for Ralston.
At dawn on the second day, a hopeful thought suddenly came to Aron: that his parents would miss him, and the police they called would surely find the unfortunate climber. Unfortunately, this was a faint hope. The search for Ralston would have taken weeks.
On the third day of his forced captivity in the canyon, Ralston came to only one saving option. He seriously pondered whether or not to cut off his right hand. On top of that, there was only a little fresh water left at the bottom.
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The fifth day began with hallucinations; Ralston was almost in a delirious state. But he held a pocketknife firmly in his left hand. Aron had already decided what he would do tomorrow, on the sixth day in the stone trap. There was no other way out – either the hand or his life. It is hard to imagine what it cost the unfortunate captive to part with his own hand.
On May 1, 2003, at 11:32, he broke free from the stone trap! In a state of pain shock he wandered the surrounding area until he was found by passing tourists. They called for help, and rescuers urgently airlifted Aron to the hospital by helicopter.
Later, having miraculously survived, Aron would not give up climbing. His feat would be talked about in the press and on television. And in 2010 the film «127 Hours» with James Franco in the lead role would be released.
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